Overview

Cinema Wars explores the intersection of film, politics, and US culture and society through a bold critical analysis of the films, TV shows, and documentaries produced in the early 2000s Offers a thought-provoking depiction of Hollywood film as a contested terrain between conservative and liberal forces Films and documentaries discussed include: Black Hawk Down, The Dark Knight, Star Wars, Syriana, WALL-E, Fahrenheit 9/11 and other Michael Moore documentaries, amongst others Explores how some films in this era supported the Bush-Cheney regime, while others criticized the administration, openly or otherwise Investigates Hollywood’s treatment of a range of hot topics, from terrorism and environmental crisis to the Iraq war and the culture wars of the 2000s Shows how Hollywood film in the 2000s brought to life a vibrant array of social protest and helped create cultural conditions to elect Barack Obama

Full Product Details

Author:   Douglas M. Kellner (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   Wiley-Blackwell
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.435kg
ISBN:  

9781405198240

ISBN 10:   1405198249
Pages:   296
Publication Date:   27 November 2009
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii List of Plates ix Introduction: Film, Politics, and Society 1 Hollywood Film as a Contested Terrain 2 Cinema, Politics, and Social History: From Cinematic Realism to Allegory 13 Hollywood Film and the Contemporary Moment: Signs of the Times 18 Reading Film Diagnostically: Imagining Obama 34 In This Book 40 1 Confronting the Horrors of the Bush-Cheney Era: From Documentary to Allegory 51 The Golden Age of Documentary 52 Real Disaster Films: From An Inconvenient Truth and Environmental Documentaries to Animated Allegories 71 Allegories of Catastrophe: Social Apocalypse in Disaster, Horror, and Fantasy Films 80 2 Hollywood’s 9/11 and Spectacles of Terror 98 9/11 as Disaster Film and Spectacle of Terror 99 Representations of 9/11 in Hollywood Film: United 93 and World Trade Center 101 Disney Television Republican Propaganda: The Path to 9/11 108 Hollywood’s Terror War 118 3 Michael Moore’s Provocations 132 Michael Moore, Emile de Antonio, and the Politics of Documentary Film 133 Roger and Me and the Documentary of Personal Witnessing 136 Bowling For Columbine and Exploratory Documentary Montage 140 Fahrenheit 9/11 and Partisan Interventionist Cinema 146 Sicko and the Michael Moore Genre 155 4 Hollywood Political Critiques of the Bush-Cheney Regime: From Thrillers to Fantasy and Satire 163 The Hollywood Political Thriller Against the Bush-Cheney Regime 165 Star Wars Prequels as Anti-Bush-Cheney Allegory 173 From Satire to Dystopia 183 5 The Cinematic Iraq War 199 Documenting Iraq 200 Interpreting the Iraq Fiasco 208 Iraq and Its Aftermath in Fiction Films 219 Conclusion: Hollywood Cinema Wars in the 2000s 239 Critical Representations 240 History Lessons 250 Final Reflections 258 References 262 Index 269

Reviews

Notwithstanding the lack of surprise, Kellner is always challenging and provocative, and for that reason alone, Cinema Wars is worth reading. (Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 1 June 2011) This volume will be a valuable source ... .The provocative political stances taken and wide range of films discussed here will stimulate debate for academics and students alike. ( Times Higher Education , February 2010)

"""Notwithstanding the lack of surprise, Kellner is always challenging and provocative, and for that reason alone, Cinema Wars is worth reading."" (Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 1 June 2011) ""This volume will be a valuable source ... .The provocative political stances taken and wide range of films discussed here will stimulate debate for academics and students alike."" (Times Higher Education, February 2010)"

This volume will be a valuable source ... .The provocative political stances taken and wide range of films discussed here will stimulate debate for academics and students alike. (Times Higher Education, February 2010)

Author Information

Douglas Kellner is George Kneller Chair of Philosophy of Education at UCLA. He is the author of many books on social theory, politics, history, and culture, including Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film, co-authored with Michael Ryan, and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy. He is the co-editor of Media and Cultural Studies Keyworks (Wiley-Blackwell 2006). Kellner's most recent book is Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombings to the Virginia Tech Massacre. His website is at www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/kellner.html.

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